The first RCARO SAC (Standing Advisory Committee) meeting was held on 22 September 2005 at IAEA in Vienna just prior to the 34th RCA General Conference Meeting at the same venue. The SAC meeting supported RCARO's new initiatives with additional fund that RCARO created. The new initiatives will highlight on the environmental issues, mainly on preventing marine environmental pollution.

The RCARO SAC, comprising National RCA Representatives of Pakistan, Malaysia, Thailand, Australia, Republic of Korea and IAEA/RCA Coordinator, has been constituted at the 27th RCA Regional Meeting in April 2005 in Malaysia and it was the first meeting since its inception. The main roles and responsibilities of the 6-member SAC are to provide advice and guidance on the RCARO major activities. The Chair of SAC is Dr Nahrul of Malaysia (Deputy Director General of MINT).

Regarding RCARO's proposal to incorporate the establishment and operation of RCARO in the RCA Agreement when amend, the meeting sees value of the proposal and suggested to further look into the possible amendment with a small working group from next year as a long-term strategy.